The 2016 Election Reality of Rigged Primaries and Purchased Super Delegates
On May 2nd, Bernie Sanders pulled off a surprise victory in Indiana. The 6-point victory came at a great time, giving renewed momentum to his campaign in the face of massive pressure, especially in the Main Stream Media, to drop out as well as accusations of "harming" Hillary's chances in a general election. In many instances you could literally see exasperation on the faces of corporate media pundits anxious to appease the entities that sign their pay-checks and their establishment, corporatist candidate as they took to the air-waves. Bernie was supposed to LOSE in Indiana, the Powers-That-Be had said so! They had spent over a week after the New York and Pennsylvania contests telling EVERYONE Bernie was done, toast, Fini.... That Hillary was and always had been unstoppable. That Bernie's supporters needed to stop "living in fantasy land" and get in line. But in Indiana, voters in the Democratic Primary gave the Powers-That-Be and their corporate media shills.... well... the bird...
As the delegates were tallied up though..... We saw something happen that we have seen time and time again. With nearly 54% of the vote, MSM began to report that Bernie Sanders comes in with two delegates LESS than Hillary Clinton. In an all-to-familiar pattern, Bernie wins the state contest, and Hillary walks off with a majority of that states delegates when you include that states Super-Delegates, something Bernie's supporters correctly point out should NOT be counted going into a contested convention as it creates an unfair and inaccurate delegate count which we see broadcast from virtually ALL broadcast media and most on-lines.
And this has had a SERIOIUS effect on the voting public...
In primary after primary and caucus after caucus, supporters of Democratic contender Bernie Sanders are becoming more and more bitter over state-after-state shenanigans by elections officials that seem to be in the Clinton's campaign corner, if not directly in their pocket. In fully 7 state contests in which Bernie Sanders has won, many times by double-digit margins, Hillary Clinton has come out with MORE of that states delegates after counting the Super-Delegates that refuse to follow the will of their states voters. In Maine, Democrats just recently voted to change the way that states Super-Delegates would operate, but those changes will not be enacted until 2020 under veiled-threat, by the DNC no less, of stripping ALL of Maine's delegates from the 2016 Primary.
A recent Reuters poll has found that now fully HALF of all Americans consider both parties' nominating processes to be "rigged." The findings suggest a lower level of participation in electoral politics in the future as citizens feel helpless to work for change through the ballot box:
Rueters - "More than half of American voters believe that the system U.S. political parties
use to pick their candidates for the White House is "rigged" and more than
two-thirds want to see the process changed...The results echo complaints from
Republican front-runner Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Bernie Sanders
that the system is stacked against them in favor of candidates with close ties to their
parties – a critique that has triggered a nationwide debate over whether the process is fair."
These poll results were not helped coming on the heals of the news that a citizens' election watchdog group in Chicago says it witnessed open vote manipulation in favor of Clinton during a mandatory random audit of the state's optical scan voting machines. Dr. Laura Chamberlain of Who's Counting testified at a Chicago Board of Elections hearing that she personally saw a state auditor intentionally remove 21 votes from Bernie Sanders and add 49 votes to Hillary Clinton.
With the blatant PURCHASING of Super-Delegates via a coordinated effort between the DNC in partnership with the Hillary Victory fund, which has directed money to benefit those Super-Delegates with state DNC affiliates acting as the "Bag-Man" in at least 33 states... The collusion in voting suppression in New York which has resulted in the termination of at least one elections board official ( who happened to sell a run-down, dilapidated building to the firm of a Clinton surrogate for $6 million... )... And the restricting of polling places and hours in many states, it's easy to understand the anger and frustration of Bernie supporters at a deck that is CLEARLY stacked against them.
